With Turner & Diebler, OSU flys by UD
Right: As predicted, Dayton had no answer for Kosta Koufos inside. AP Photo/Terry Gilliam
Last night, the atmosphere almost resembled high school tournament games that are played at Value City Arena.
While the majority of the fans were pro-Ohio State, a good number of Dayton fans made the trip over on I-70. Even the Flyers’ pep band joined in the fun.
Unfortunately for those Flyer fans in attendance, it was a long trip home after seeing their team get dismantled, as the Buckeyes won 74-63 in front of a sellout crowd of 19,049 at Value City Arena.
One difference between a school from one of the BCS conferences, like Ohio State, as oppose to a mid-major program, like Dayton, are the “bigs.” The Flyers had no answer for 7-foot freshman center Kosta Koufos, who scored a game-high 21 points on 9 of 11 shooting from the field, including a three-pointer.
The great equalizer for mid-major teams, though, is the three-point line. Smaller teams have to take advantage of their quickness and they have to knock down their treys. Dayton wasn’t able to do neither of those things, especially in the second half.
After the intermission, Ohio State head coach Thad Matta had to switch to a smaller line-up, mainly due to the fact that starting forward, Othello Hunter, had to ride the pine due to foul trouble.
With Hunter on the bench, freshman Jon Diebler checked in with Jamar Butler, David Lighty, and Evan Turner. All four are essentially guards, along with Koufos.
The difference in the game was the second half, and in particular, the play of Turner and Diebler, who combined for 21 points in the final period. Neither of those two scored a point in the first half.
Turner had 11 points and six rebounds, while Diebler scored 10 points on 2 of 3 shooting from three-point land in the last 20 minutes of action.
Just 37 seconds into the second half, Turner sprung free through the lane and scored on a layup to give Ohio State a 32-31 lead, and the Buckeyes never trailed the rest of the way.
But in the first half, there were six ties and four lead changes. Dayton led by as many as five points on two different occasions, and held a 31-30 advantage at the break.
I’m not sure what Matta said at halftime, but it obviously worked.
After Turner scored, both teams traded baskets on four consecutive trips down the floor.
With 15:36 left to play in the game and Ohio State clinging to a one-point lead, the Buckeyes outdistanced themselves from the Flyers by going on a 13-2 run, capped off on a three-point by Butler from the left wing that put OSU ahead 49-37 with 11:54 remaining.
During that span, Diebler connected on his two, three-pointers that proved very pivotal during the run.
Dayton could only get as close as nine points after Brian Roberts drained a deep three with 7:49 left to make the score 55-46.
On the next trip down, Butler misfired on a trey, and Dayton’s Chris Wright came down with the rebound.
With the Flyers trying to cut into the deficit, a turnover by London Warren near the scorer’s table resulted in a layup by Butler to put Ohio State ahead 57-46 with 7:17 left, and the Buckeyes led by double digits the rest of the way.
My prediction of Ohio State winning by 15 points nearly came true until Matta emptied the bench with 43 seconds remaining.
Along with Koufos, Diebler and Turner in double figures for the Buckeyes was senior Jamar Butler, who scored 12 points in his final game at Value City Arena.
Roberts led the Flyers with 20 points.
Ohio State shot a blistering 53.2 percent (25-for-47) from the field, while holding Dayton just just 40.0 percent (24-for-60).
The Buckeyes also forced 16 Dayton turnovers and scored 20 points off them while committing only nine.
While it was great for Ohio State to play an in-state foe, I seriously doubt it’s going to happen again any time soon in the regular season.
I think the biggest problem is economics. Sure, teams like Dayton, Xavier and Cincinnati would jump at the chance to play Ohio State in Columbus, but at the same time, I am sure they would also want a return trip, a home-and-home series.
With that, it boils down to facilities, which neither of those schools can match. UD Arena is the largest of the three, but only seats 13,409. The only exception might be playing either Cincinnati or Xavier at U.S. Bank Arena, which was a capacity of roughly 17,000 for basketball.
This past season, Ohio State has already played an in-state team on the road, and it might be the only time in the near future that will happen. Back on Dec. 18, the Buckeyes took on Cleveland State at Quicken Loans Arena, which seats 20,562, and it’s about the only venue in the state of Ohio that’s comparable to Value City Arena.
Up next, Ohio State will play Mississippi in the semi-finals of the MasterCard National Invitational Tournament, next Tuesday. It will be played following the Florida-Massachusetts game at Madison Square Garden, with the tip-off roughly at 9:15-9:30 p.m. ET, depending how long the first game takes.
